


Kahlúa

by JS19



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Cafe AU, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, bar au, fake tweets, reallyminor!johnten, reallyminor!norenmin, side!jaeyong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-01 23:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14532021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JS19/pseuds/JS19
Summary: A new bar opens in front of the cafe Mark was working in. He was tasked to ask them to turn down their music, but what he didn't expect was one of the owners to be his age and annoyingly hot - emphasis on annoying.When Lucas decided to ditch college and build a business. he didn't think a runt waiter from the cafe across would be the source of his headaches and amusement.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> not proofread again. something light and easy (and family friendly). most of the pictures are taken online and do not belong to me. credits to owners.

Mark wakes up to heavy synth drum beats and bass line drilling his eardrums. He yelps in shock, and most customers look at him in amusement. Donghyuck, however is giving him a dirty look at from the cash register. He slept on his shift again. He stands up and walk toward his friend.

"You're lucky there wasn't much customers today." Donghyuck rolls his eyes at Mark's sheepish smile. Paper Dreams, the book cafe they are working at, was usually teeming with people during the early nights but the usual crowd was missing. "Today's the opening of the bar in front, some went to check it out."

Mark is still wincing at the noise, and from the looks of it Donghyuck was pretty annoyed by it too. Most of the customers resorted in plugging their ears with earbuds. The kitchen door opens revealing a harried Taeyong, their boss and the owner of the cafe.

"Mark, you're finally awake," the owner smiles at Mark kindly. Taeyong never scolded him for taking a nap on the job, much to Donghyuck's dismay. His onyx apron and pants are smeared by streaks of white from the flour for the pastries. "Can you go over there and tell them to turn their music down?"

"Okay, hyung." Mark smiles at the older man. Taeyong immediately went back to the kitchen. In front of him, Donghyuck is grumbling about favouritism. "What happened?"

"He told me over and over again to be careful with the books." The younger man snippily replies, pouting. "I just wanted to read."

"You spilled your coffee at one of the books last time," their boss' voice says, muffled by the thin plaster wall. Even with the loud music, Taeyong seemed to have keen ears for idle talk.

Mark snorts at the memory. Donghyuck just glares at him. It was one of Taeyong's personal favorite books too. There are only a few ways to tick off their boss and damaging the books unfortunately came up near the top of that list.

"You sleep on the job. Shut up," Donghyuck spits. Mark pretends to be shocked and offended at the accusation. Schoolwork was piling up as and he was pulling all-nighters left and right to cram requirements so Mark spends some of his short break sleeping on one of the empty tables. He always ends up oversleeping, but so far Taeyong hasn't told him off or docked his pay.

"Mark! The music!" Taeyong shouts from inside the kitchen again. The young man snaps to attention and promptly marches out of the cafe doors. Scattered at his feet are sheets of bright color against the grey pavement. It was a mess, he shuddered at the thought of cleaning it up on closing time. He clicks his tongue as he picks one up and immediately furrows his eyebrows in confusion at the flyer and the neon sign of the bar.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/Jr6ghkcN)

 

He crosses the street, the music almost deafening at the current level. Neon looms over Mark and his hands starts to sweat.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/Nmt764Eu)

 

Mark swallows his saliva and walks past the bouncer and into the dark club, phone clutched in his hand.

 

* * *

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/Co29dsw6)

 

Everything was going well and on schedule. Lucas sighs in relief as the last of the preparations needed was set. They are set to open in a few minutes, everything needs to be perfect. It’s their first venture in opening a business – an adult one at that. Jaehyun is busy manning the counter with the help of some of his college friends Yuta and Johnny.

The employee entrance opens, signalling the entrance of their last employee. Jeno walks in carrying his equipment, Jisung, his step-brother in tow. Lucas narrows his eyes at the pair. "You're a minor."

"Chill. I'm gonna go before you open," Jisung shrugs. He looks around the bar. Inspecting every crevice of the rather thin porous concrete walls. They wanted to create an open and fresh type of environment so the room is tall and airy and there are several air vents up on the front. "The acoustics of this room seems pretty bad. You sure you guys are ready to open now?"

"Most people would be to hammered to care," Lucas snorts. He knows they have cut on some corners, but they were on a rather limited budget. The teenager looks at him skeptically. "It will be fine. It's Seoul. I'm sure people are used to the noise."

"Well, at least the lighting is nice," Jisung motions to the black light lamps on the ceiling. Lucas' phone buzzed, it was opening time. "Well, I'm gonna go now. Good luck on the noise complaints!"

"Brat," Lucas sighs. He glances at Jeno at the DJ booth who was already finished setting up, smiling sheepishly at the owner.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/yHZLWy4k)

 

A few minutes in, and a small man walked in - clutching his phone nervously. It was obvious that it is his first time entering an adult establishment - which may mean he's a minor pretending to be a legal adult. Lucas walks towards the new customer, in the darkness it’s hard to see the exact features of the man. But he looks to be on the younger side. "Are you sure you're old enough to be here?"

Wide startled eyes look up at his own in confusion. Cute, but that makes him more suspicious. After a few seconds what Lucas has said clicked in the young man's brain, as he immediately glares at Lucas. "Excuse you, I'm an adult."

"Yeah, no. Give me your ID," Lucas says, hand outstretched - waiting for proof. "You look like sixteen at most."

The shorter man pulls out his wallet and slams a driver's licence at Lucas' hand. If the ID was to be believed, the man, Mark Lee, is only a several months younger than Lucas. IDs are easily fakeable though. "I don't believe you."

Mark sputters and grabs back his licence. "What do you want me to go back and grab my passport before coming here? Look I'm not even here to party, I just want to speak to the owner."

That caught Lucas' attention, he looks at the shorter man suspiciously. "Yes, you're currently speaking to him. How may I help you?"

" _You_?" The shorter man blinks in surprise.

Lucas shrugs. He knows it's a bit weird to see someone as young as him own a business, much more a bar. "Yes. _Me_."

"Oh, okay. Well, you see I work at the cafe in front," Mark stammers. Lucas makes out a dark apron peeking out from one of the young man's pockets. "And I was wondering if it's possible to turn down the music a bit?"

"And why would I do that?" Lucas cocks his eyebrow at the waiter. He knows the smart thing to do with the request was to actually follow, but he can't help but to try and rile up the shorter man. "My customers are enjoying themselves. Can't really cut off their fun now."

Mark is visibly flustered at his response, sending a death glare at the amused man. "Well, _our_ customers are annoyed at the noise you call music."

Oh, he did not go there. The night's playlist was personally handpicked by Lucas. He levels his gaze directly at the small man's eyes and returns the glare. "Well that's none of my problem."

After what seemed like a few moments, Mark suddenly snaps up and runs somewhere, expertly dodging the crowd. "Hey where are you going?!"

He tries to follow the man, but after a loud metallic screech all that was left was the confused muttering of the crowd. "Oh, he did just not."

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/MmPgczNY)

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/MTAFbqBD)

 

* * *

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/u9Dd1tQC)

 

Mark runs back at the cafe as stealthily as he can. Inside, everyone seems more relaxed but their customer number has really taken a hit. You can't exactly run a book cafe amidst heavy noise. His ears are still ringing at the sounds the pounding amplifiers made.

"I don't know how people are not going deaf inside that building." Mark groans once he was at the safety of the walls of the quaint cafe. Taeyong walks out of the kitchen door.

"You talked to the owner?" His boss asks, looking a bit messier than half an hour ago. Usually he starts preparing the slow rise doughs at this time for the next morning. Mark nods. "It's good that he's reasonable."

"No, he's not," Mark blurts out. He vividly remembers the tall guy looming over him, mocking him. His eyebrow was cocked up as he questioned Mark's age, thick plump lips drawn out into as smirk as he watched Mark's ire boiling in amusement.

"How did the music suddenly stop?" Taeyong looks confused.

"Err I may have..." the waiter says sheepishly. "Plugged out all of the cables at their DJ booth."

As soon as he finished his sentence the music came roaring out again, even louder than before - as if to spite Mark. The rest of the customers sighs in annoyance and started packing up their things.

"Well I guess at least it's near our closing time." Donghyuck mutters as they watch their last customer, a teenager donning large headphones, leave with an almost guilty expression. There was more than an hour left until 9 pm, their official closing time. "Do we just close up early, or do we ask them to move their opening hours?"

"No. We fight back." Mark opens his phone camera and records a video of the bar. "We can file a noise complaint to the police."

"Right. I'm sure none of the residents could be really happy with this ruckus." Taeyong sighs, grabbing his car keys. The precinct was usually a bit crowded during Friday nights, so they have a potentially long evening ahead of him. "Send me the video. You two handle the closing."

"Yes boss." Donghyuck mock salutes as Mark searches for anything that can act as an earplug.

 

* * *

 

Jaehyun slams the employee door wide open on his entrance. With the way he is stomping, it’s pretty obvious he’s pissed. Yuta and Johnny, who was busy cleaning up the counters for the upcoming night, quickly ducks as the owner walks past them.

"What happened?" Lucas asks calmly, putting away the mop he was using.

"Someone filed a noise complaint on us." Jaehyun groans holding up a piece of paper. He looks like he wants to rip the paper apart.

"How much do you want to bet the cafe was involved?" He asks, the annoying runt flashing in his mind. He wasn't able to catch the culprit because he was busy helping Jeno to plug and restart the system. He grips the plastic shaft of the mop hard. "You know what we should do? We should march there."

"Let's do this." The older man replies with a determined expression. Together they walk out of the front door and crossed the street. The cafe has a busy but quiet atmosphere. On the front, their sign reads _'Paper Dreams'_ in a thin serif font, their walls are painted a sunny pastel yellow. The day's special pastries are drawn in chalk in a sandwich board in a cute handwriting. The front wall is made entirely of glass and you can clearly see what happening inside. Lined against the wall is a long row of bookshelves.

It’s just after lunch and the runt didn't seem to be working yet as he is sleepily blinking and pouting at a book on one of the tables. On the same table is a tan brunette who is busy typing frantically on his phone, and an older pale black-haired guy who seems done with life and his shift. Their barista is a complete contrast to two of their servers who are busy running around the shop. It makes an odd picture.

The kitchen door opens up and a pink haired man comes out and drags the older man back into the kitchen. Lucas hears a falter in his friend's step. He glances at Jaehyun who was making an odd face. "What?"

"I'm sorry. I can't do this." Jaehyun suddenly turns around and bolts back to the bar. Lucas calls after him, causing a ruckus, but the tall man ignored the curious looks the people were giving him.

 

**Lucas**

Dude wtf????

**Jaehyun**

I'm really sorry man. You can confront them alone. Fighting!

 

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/JbAXU1l9)

 

"I thought the amplifiers were the only loud thing from that bar." Under the sunlight, the runt's features became a bit prominent. His eyes look even rounder than the night before, his eyebrows sharp. His face is small -  cheekbones prominent, and his chin and jaw are angular and narrow. "Apparently your mouth is just as loud. You're making a scene in front of our cafe."

Mark's small lips are drawn into a smug smile, and Lucas wants to smack it off his face. He closes into the personal space of the shorter man, their faces only a few centimeters apart. "It's also the front of my bar, I can make any scene that I want to."

The shorter man's eyes flits distractedly all over Lucas' face in surprise. One look that lingered a second longer over his lips made Lucas smirk. Mark steps back and narrows his eyes at him. "I'm sure a call from the police earlier already reminded you otherwise."

Irritation welled up in Lucas, he clenches his fists tight as he shouts, "That was you?!"

For a moment, Mark looked a bit aback, but he returns with his own yell. "Of course it was me! Who else would it be? Is your head empty?"

That stings a bit, if Lucas was to be honest.

"Fuck off, I knew it was you! You just confirmed my suspicions." He replies. "This runt. Yah, I could have sued you for property damage. It was good we had backups."

Well none of the equipment was really damaged. But the smaller man didn't need to know that.

"Runt?" Mark scoffs. "That's the best you can do? Then sue me you overgrown toenail."

"Well then see you in court."

Lucas highly doubts he could actually press charges.

"Fine. See you!'

Mark stomps back to the cafe and slams the glass doors shut.

 

* * *

 

"Who was that?" Chenle asks as soon as he enters the cafe. Jaemin and Renjun looks up from their task, curious. Even the older men, Taeyong and Doyoung cracks open the kitchen door to hear what the scene was about.

"The owner of the bar in front." Mark grumbled. "He wasn't too happy with the noise complaint.

"Oh, that was him?" Taeyong says. "He looks young. Around your age actually. Did you manage to reach an understanding about the situation?"

Everyone in the rooms snorts and Mark feels his face burn in shame. Right, he was supposed to ask them nicely to keep it down starting tonight if they don't want another complaint.

"I'll work on it." He replies.

"I bet you will." Donghyuck's eyes are twinkling with mischief. "I saw how you looked at him."

"What?" Mark glances back at the retreating figure of the tall man. His eyes automatically trace the strong lines of the man's back. "What look?"

His friend gave him an incredulous look. " _That_ look. You think he's hot."

"What? No." He sputters. "That's an absolutely preposterous idea."

He glances one last time to see the well-defined arms of the man slamming the bar door close. Donghyuck had no idea what he was talking about.

It was a ridiculous idea.


	2. Chapter 2

"What happened there?" Lucas asks his business partner who was twiddling with his thumb and giggling on his phone looking love-struck. He peeks on the phone and finds himself looking at a selfie of the pink haired man from the cafe.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/MKYC9Btp)

 

"Can't you see? Oh my god he's perfect." The older man mutters, shaking the picture of the pink haired guy in front of Lucas. "He's the owner of the cafe outside."

"What?" Lucas sighs in disbelief. "How did you even find his twitter?"

"Well I combed through the tag and found one suspicious tweet." Jaehyun explains, pressing back and loading up the original tweet. "Pretty sure that's the waiter. I searched around his profile and found the owner."

He narrows his eyes at the phone in front of him and quickly brought out his own - searching for the offending tweet.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/aOaJiCHU)

 

The younger man didn't reply for a while Lucas turned his attention back to Jaehyun who was still grinning like a fool at the phone screen. "What, still stalking his timeline?"

"No. I'm actually talking to him now." Jaehyun replies, eyes not leaving the screen with a grin that seemed to be permanently plastered on his face. "He types so cutely. I'm gonna die. We started making an agreement but now we're just making random small talk."

"Agreement? What agreement?" He scrambles behind Jaehyun and looks at the direct messages between the two. "You better not have agreed on some bad shit."

"I didn't, don't worry. Their request was simple." The bartender reassured him. "We need to get our music to a reasonable level up to 9pm, until we get good soundproofing."

Well that was surprisingly reasonable. Then again, it was the owner, not the waiter, who probably came up with the terms. One thing bothered him though. "And when did you say will we soundproof the bar?"

"Very soon." Jaehyun admits sheepishly. He frowns and Jaehyun immediately explains, "We don't need to treat the whole bar yet. We just need a few fabric soundboards on the front. It will help in keeping some of the more sensitive customers in too. It's not that expensive, Taeyong sent me some links to check out."

"Hyung, we don't have the money for it." Lucas states. Both of their bank accounts are pretty much dry right now for anything big. "We didn't earn money last night because we gave away drinks for free. We don't even have an idea on how much we will earn today."

"I know, I know," the older man placates him. "But some of the customers left early yesterday because of how harsh the echoes here are. We need this. Maybe we could borrow somewhere."

He knows what that 'somewhere' means. "Hyung, no. I'm not asking them for more money. I already put all of my inheritance in this bar instead of my schooling."

"I'm sorry." Jaehyun's smile is suddenly wiped from his face, guilt floating around in his eyes. It feels like a stone dropped down and punched Lucas' stomach. He shouldn't have said that. "I didn't mean to put pressure on you. We can ask around for help, maybe there's a stopgap cheap alternative."

The whole bar was washed in silence, with only the occasional sound of glasses hitting each other floating in the air. "It's fine, hyung. Maybe we should ask Jeno and Jisung. They would know."

**Lucas**

Hey man, apparently some customers complained about the echoes last night. Do you think we can find a cheap solution for now?

**Jeno**

Jisung says you should ask around for egg cartons and heavy curtains. It won't help you much about the noise complaints of the neighbors but it would help dampen the sound inside the bar. Or so he says.

**Lucas**

Thanks bro.

The heavy curtains are easy to get, but he doesn't have any idea where to find tons of egg cartons. His phone vibrates in his hand and a new notification from twitter popped up.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/VUY4p7Ky)

 

What did that even mean? Lucas wasn't sure, instead he focused on the icon of the younger guy. Mark had an entirely new display picture on his profile. Curious, he clicks on it.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/dCg85me3)

 

Lucas stares at deep brown of Mark' eyes and his tousled hair. The younger man was clearly still wearing his bright white uniform for the cafe. An idea lights up inside his head. Maybe befriending the cafe owner would not be a bad idea after all.

 

* * *

 

Ok, so maybe Donghyuck wasn't actually bored. And maybe Mark asked him to do his makeup. But he has his pride to defend, no matter what Donghyuck was insinuating.

"You must think he's really hot if you're willing to get your face painted." Donghyuck said earlier, snickering.

But he was wrong, this wasn't about finding the tall man attractive. This is war, and Mark is just covering for all of his bases.

On the corner of his eyes, he sees Taeyong coming out of the kitchen doors with a full trolley of egg carton trays they have used over the past few weeks, which was a lot considering how much cake and pastry they sell. They usually get rid of them once they become too many so this wasn't an unusual sight.

"Hey Mark, can you help me bringing this over to the bar?" Taeyong says, motioning to an additional pile still inside the kitchen. "The owner wants to buy them."

"Yukhei?" He asks in surprise. Yes, he might have stalked the other man's twitter a bit to get his name. But it was for a good reason - get to know your enemy and stuff.

The pink haired guy shakes his head. "No. The other owner, Jaehyun. He contacted me to apologize for last night."

"Oh, makes sense." He shrugs and follows his boss' order. With the lights turned on and without the heavy beat drilling his ears, the bar looks and feels like another place.

"Hi! Nice to see you in person!" A handsome muscular man beamed at them, mostly at his boss though. "I'm Jaehyun. Taeyong and Mark, right?"

He nods along his boss but starts to tune them out to look over what was happening on the bar. Over on the walls, some of the employees are busy putting up heavy drapes to cover up the walls. The much-hated tall man was instructing them. On the DJ booth is the awkward teenager who left their cafe last.

Mark glances back at the pair of owners who was happily chatting. And while he might be a bit slow on matters not relating to academics, practically spending years with his boss made him aware when a guy is hitting on his hyung. And by the looks of it, Taeyong was reciprocating. He averts his eyes and it lands on the sight of Lucas staring at them with a funny expression.

However, he's not in a mood to have another row at the same day so he instead walks over the bored teenager at the booth. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Oh. Hey." The young man says awkwardly. The silence that follows was painful but seeing as his boss is still busy with Jaehyun, Mark opts to sit beside the stranger.

"I'm Mark." He offers his hand and the kid takes it.

"I know. Yukhei-hyung hasn't stopped talking about you." There was another beat of silence between the two of them. A W K W A R D. "Oh right. My name is Jisung. That guy is my step-brother."

Jisung points at the DJ who was tiptoeing to attach one of the cloth to the concrete wall. "His name is Jeno, that one is Yuta and the other one is Johnny."

"Right." The atmosphere was heavy again. Mark still feels the weight of the tall man's stare at him. He looks at the well-worn shoes of Jisung. "So, what do you do? Dance?"

"Yes!" Jisung beams at him. And from there, their conversation finally flowed smoothly.

 

* * *

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/jP5Z0Eac)

 

Much to Lucas' dismay, the waiter has won over every single one of his staff. Not to mention, Jaehyun and the cafe owner Taeyong has really hit it off together, which would explain why he ended up sitting across Mark, glaring at each other while the other pair was sending heart eyes.

"Be nice to Markie," Jaehyun had said as soon as they entered the restaurant and found Taeyong brought his employee along. "He's like a little brother to Yongie."

"Sure," He had replied and they sat down in front of the two. It shouldn't be too hard to be civil right?

But he was wrong. At first it started with Mark looking slightly constipated at his presence, which Lucas was completely okay with. In fact, he looked like an angry 7-year-old who got his gaming privileges taken. It was cute and amusing at the same time.

"You look like an idiot doing that," he mutters under his breath but with the relative silence of the restaurant the younger man seemed to have heard.

Mark snorts, but he didn't seem angry - just annoyed. "You look like an idiot all the time."

His voice was a bit too loud and they hear the couple's conversation faltering. The pink haired man asks, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine, hyung." Mark suddenly wipes the annoyed expression on his face and replaced it with a happy grin. The bastard was a good actor.

Pain shot on his toes as he feels the heel of Mark's dress shoes crushing them. He glares at the smaller man who still had a smile plastered on his face and pulls his feet away. "Yeah, we were just talking to each other."

The couple looks away, completely convinced. He waits for a few seconds to pass before kicking the small man's leg. The table shakes a bit and the couple looks at them suspiciously again. Right, they have to remain civil.

They spend the rest of the meal glaring at each other and making funny faces at each other whenever something disgustingly cheesy comes from the couple.

All things considered, he finds that he doesn't mind the presence of the runt bothering anymore.

 

* * *

 

Third wheeling on the couple's lunch dates has become a common event in Mark's schedule. Sometimes Jaehyun brings Lucas around, which turns out to be the dates that Mark tends to loathe. The couple had a habit of talking in sweet whispered tones, and the face Lucas makes - as if he's personally offended by the pair, makes a silver of laughter bubble out of Mark's throat. The tall man catches it and for a moment he grins at Mark before closing down to his quiet indifference.

Mark hates it - loathes it.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/FGXUkpQx)

 

Something felt really wrong - like something was missing and Mark didn't even notice. He was hanging out (read: third-wheeling) again with Taeyong and Jaehyun a few hours before their shift on the cafe.

"I haven't seen him all day." The statement catches Mark ears. He was busy playing a phone game, as one naturally does when third-wheeling.

The pair glances at him quickly and Jaehyun chuckles, "Yukhei is back in Hong Kong for a week. Some family thing."

He ignores the knowing look Taeyong gives him. Donghyuck has roped their boss into his weird theories. Instead Mark opens his twitter app again.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/ZHlNIFMr)

 

He taps away from his tweet and types a well-memorized username in the search bar. As soon as he saw the man's latest tweet he had to suppress a small giggle from coming out.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/pTnTAogO)

 

The couple looks at him again, with unreadable eyes and smug smiles. It seemed that even Jaehyun was infected by Donghyuck's theory. Mark puts the phone away for the rest of the day and spends it in silence.

 

* * *

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/QnpGfmM3)

 

"Yukhei." His mom looks at him sternly. "Put your phone away, you have been staring at it for minutes."

Lucas pockets his phone and endures the gazes of the whole family.

"Have him spend a few years in Korea and he loses all his manners," his grandmother, a severe old woman, mutters darkly. "You spoil your child too much."

Everyone went silent as they watch him, expecting him to hang his head in shame. He doesn't.

"He stops studying and spends all of his money to drink all night." The old woman continues. "Why did he even show his face here?"

"Mom. Stop." His mother interjects. The air felt heavy, everyone seemed on the edge - like a taut rope pulled even harder, its edges fraying.

"I'm just saying the truth." The old woman says. "He has no shame. If he had he would never even think of stepping a single foot in this house."

Everything went still, not even the scraping of silver utensil on the porcelain plates seems to make a sound. The air is frigid, and no one voices anything.

No one looked at anyone, their eyes avoiding glances. His plate looks like a mess of torn meat and crushed rice. The soft silver in his hands indenting a bit to fit his grip. He had enough.

"It's still my father's death anniversary." Lucas stands up after what seemed like an eternity in nothingness. "Excuse me, I need to rest."

He walks out the dining room and climbs the stairs, not minding the shocked silence that seemed to scream from the room.

In his stark darkness of the guest room, the light on his phone seemed like the midday sun - the tangerine burning his retina.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/l1LKj9pF)

 

He stares at the black pixels supposedly representing what he felt. It doesn't t feel enough - it doesn't encapsulate everything that was building up inside of his chest bubbling with rage and anger. He deletes it, certain that no one has seen it yet because it was late night at Korea and everyone is either tending to the bar or sleeping.

Not a moment later a direct message arrived. He looks in disbelief at the name of the sender.

 

**mork lee**

Hey, are you okay?

I know we're not friends, not really.

But I saw your tweet.

 

He laughs at his own misfortune. Of all the person to be awake at such an hour it had to be him.

 

**on vacation**

it's nothing i'm just being dramatic aha

it's late you should be sleeping now

**mork lee**

I'm still busy cramming papers.

 

The waiter didn't reply for a while and Lucas thought that was the end of it.

 

**mork lee**

Hey, I'm going to call you. I got your number from Jaehyun.

**on vacation**

my number??? the international rates... are you crazy?

**mork lee**

Look, I don't have skype or anything.

**on vacation**

i'm fine, honestly. you're a broke college student save your money and buy ramen with it or something.

**mork lee**

Don't mind that. I have some cash to spare. I'm still calling you, dumbass.

 

His phone vibrates and an unknown number flashes on the screen. Hesitantly, Lucas accepts the call and places the phone on his ear.

"Hey," Mark's voice sounds different coming from speakers. Or maybe it was the way he spoke, soft and gentle - as opposed the usual way he does to Lucas. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's really nothing." He says, but his own voice doesn't sound convinced of his words.

"It's not nothing." The younger male insisted. "If it made you really angry, then it's important. If you need to vent that out to me, then feel free to do so."

Lucas' laugh sounds so brittle to his own ears. "What would you get from that?"

"A distraction," Mark answers honestly. But even then, it sounds veiled and incomprehensible.

He snorts, his voice tight and dry. "A distraction from what? Studying?"

"From something that has been bugging my mind all day." The way he says it was placating - patronizing, even. Some part of Lucas preened at it.

"Well then I'm glad I could provide you with what you need." Lucas laughs again, this time it was a bit fuller - like he meant it. "Well, little Marco do you want to hear a story?"

"Why are you making this weird?" Mark giggles. He never did that before around him.

"Just play along with it." He smiles as a hum of confirmation floats from his phone speaker. "Well, let me start about telling you about my family. Are you ready?"

"Go ahead," The younger man says, clearly amused. "You're the boss."

"So, our family consists of the usual: a strict mother, an overly busy father, children - three guys in this case, a grandmother, and the last member - her trusty yardstick." He laughs again, not even knowing why he does. The younger man keeps silent, listening attentively. "You could imagine how it was like when I growing up. But if it was hard before, it was even harder now that my dad is gone. Today was his death anniversary."

"That's terrible." He waits for Mark to apologize for his loss - feel sorry for him. He hates hearing those words, but nothing really came. "What was your father like?"

"I don't really have that many fond memories of him, if I am to be honest," Lucas admits, his voice steadier - less hysterical. "He was never really around much but when he was he would joke around and play with us."

"He seems nice," Mark replies earnestly. "Aside from the overly busy part."

"He was." Lucas agrees easily. "It's not like I don't understand why he was too busy though. Running a business can take so much of your time. Most of the time I end up sleeping in an extra room upstairs of the bar instead of my proper apartment."

"Taeyong-hyung is the same. He practically lives in the cafe," the younger man says. "It's a good thing his boyfriend is just across his shop."

A small smile forms on Lucas' face, Mark sounded almost wistful. "It is. I don't think I have seen a couple as sweet as those two."

Mark hums in agreement and they fall into an awkward silence - the only things Lucas hears is the quiet breathing of the waiter. After minutes of the stillness, Mark hesitantly asks, "What happened today?"

Right. That's why Mark called. "Well, as I said before, today is my father's death anniversary - so my mom ordered me to come home. So, I did what any reasonable son would do. I followed the orders - even if I know I'm not exactly welcome in our house."

"Why?" The younger man asks, his voice barely a whisper.

"Because I ran away with all of my inheritance and flew to Korea - met Jaehyun and eventually stopped studying to build a bar." Lucas chuckles darkly. In his own ears he sounds so broken and bitter. In his mind, he was ready for Mark to judge him for his choices. Why wouldn't he? The waiter works everyday just so he can live and study. "I know they didn't like what I did. They cut off contact with me, that's obvious. But did they have to practically shove me out of this house, today of all days?"

"I can't even imagine how bad you must feel right now." Mark admits with a small but steady voice. "You're doing well though. The bar is a hit with the locals. If they don't want you there, you're more than welcome here. In Korea, I mean - here in Korea."

Oh. He did not expect that.

"Thank you." His chest feels a bit lighter now, the anger and indignation are still there but it has mellowed out. "This actually helped."

"I'm glad it did." Mark's smile could be heard through the phone. "I'll be here in case you need someone to rant to again."

"Yeah, yeah." He replies, smiling as well. "Now hang up. Your bill will be a nightmare this month."

"Right." The waiter whimpers out. He laughs at the sound. "See you soon, I guess."

"Yeah, see you soon." Mark hangs up, the click of his phone loud.

He stares back at the screen - now back to his twitter. Several thoughts run in his brain, about the morning to come - about the life he left overseas. He glances at the suitcase in the corner of his guest room, still unpacked. "Maybe I should do it."

Lucas sleeps that night with the tangerine on his screen bleeding to his dreams.

 

* * *

 

Donghyuck shrieks as soon as he steps into the cafe. He looks terrible - he had dark circles on his eyes. "I had a late night okay."

Even after hanging up and finishing all of his work Mark found it hard to fall asleep. His brain was too busy, too worried to rest.

"But we are going to party tonight!" Donghyuck whined, already dressed up to go clubbing even if it was just afternoon. "You're the one who made these plans while the giant is gone."

"Don't be dramatic. I'm sure we can cover this with concealer." Not that there was any reason for him to try and look good anyway. "Just work your magic."

During their breaks, the younger man slowly applied layers of makeup on his skin. And by the time they were closing the shop, he felt pretty confident on how he looked.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/e32Ro9AN)

 

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/iiNpLEIh)

 

"Hey Johnny." He greets one of the bartenders, sitting on a bar-stool. With how much Taeyong has been spending with Jaehyun, he has formed an odd friendship with the bar staff.

"Oh hai Mark," Johnny greets back. "You finally here to party? Gonna dance while Yukhei is gone?"

He shakes his head. He honestly doesn't feel like having fun. Donghyuck went on dancing amongst the writhing crowd. "No. I'm not really in the mood."

"Bad day?" The bartender asks, he passes a frosted mug of beer to Mark's hands. "That one's on the house, for first-timers."

"Thanks." The taste of the ice-cold beer flows smoothly on his mouth. "Not really bad, though. I wasn't really unlucky or anything. It's just too empty."

"Ah, one of those days." Johnny says. "I have those a lot recently too. You feel like a walking shell and you just float around - doing what you usually do."

"Right." Mark slumps on the bar counter. "It's annoying. How do you deal with this?"

"Well, have you done something you enjoy lately?" Mark nods his head. He had tried but it wasn't enough. "Maybe try something new. You should go dance there - meet someone."

The idea rubbed off Mark badly, it felt wrong. He scrunches up his nose. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Yeah, probably not." Johnny acquiesces, taking Mark's now empty mug and replacing it with a full one. The younger man motions to get his wallet but the bartender shakes his head. "I'm opening a tab under your name. You can pay later."

"Oh." Mark blinks at the bartender. "I didn't know the bar allowed that."

"We don't but you're a special case." Johnny explains. On his side, Yuta snickers. "The only other person to have a tab open here is Taeyong."

The two laughs at their inside joke but Mark's brain is already too hazy to make sense of it. He curls his fingers around the almost freezing glassware. "I just feel like I want to sleep until - like something happens."

"Or someone arrives." A familiar obnoxious voice declares. Mark rolls his eyes, there Donghyuck goes with his theories again. The younger man leans over the counter ordering a rum cola. "He's being a grandpa like this because he's missing someone."

"I do not." He interjects, his ear red. "Stop spreading your tinfoil nonsense."

"Honey, it's not tinfoil nonsense when practically everyone agrees at this point." Donghyuck replies patronizingly, downing his drink pretty quickly. He hands a few bills to Yuta and turns around to re-join the crowd. "Join me once you stop moping Lee Minhyung."

"You don't believe that, don't you?" Mark looks at Johnny and Yuta who smiled at him sheepishly. The new hires, Sicheng and Taeil, at least paid no attention to the conversation. "I don't okay."

"Sure," Johnny replies but he didn't sound like he believes Mark. "But that's a perfectly valid cause for feeling lethargic. I usually feel like that whenever I miss Ten."

"He's working in Thailand, right?" A topic change, nice. As far as Mark could remember, the couple had met in college in Korea. "How do you cope with that?"

"We video call each other a lot, but sometimes it doesn't feel enough." The bartender replies. "There are days where I feel like packing up here and joining him there, honestly."

"Why don't you do it?" Mark asks, downing the last drop in his mug.

"Because then, I'd be leaving the home I've built for myself for so long." Johnny sighs, passing him another drink. "It's bad enough that I miss Chicago. I don't want to start missing Korea too. Ten has his life there, I have mine here."

Mark groans, he knows that feeling all too well. Being away from Canada made Mark feel the same. "Why don't you try alternating countries. Six months here, six months there. That type of deal."

"A lot of money needs to be saved to make that happen. Maybe in the future." The bartender smiled. "When that becomes feasible."

"Ugh. Don't remind me of money." He feels his cell burning in his pocket. "My phone bill is gonna be a nightmare this month."

 

* * *

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/Po3takS7)

 

"You're back early." Yuta raises his eyebrows in surprise, the older man looked tired. It was a little past twelve - but the number of customers hasn't even dwindled yet. "I thought you were going to stay there for a week?"

When he woke from his sleep, he decided to book a flight back to Korea and leave the house. There was no point in staying in somewhere he was not welcome.

"I guess I missed Korea more than it missed me," Lucas jokes but the Japanese man doesn't laugh. He changes tactics and lies instead. "The family gathering was just cut short."

"Oh, well I guess it's nice to have you back." Yuta says, with a nervous laughter. "You can't sleep upstairs though."

"Why?" Suspicious. With the amount of nights he has spent at the room upstairs, it was already dubbed to be his own.

The bartender looks around for help but everyone was busy. "It's currently occupied."

"I'm sure Jaehyun-hyung won't mind sleeping on the same bed." He moves past the bar and walks towards the stairs, ignoring the call of the Japanese man.

What he saw once he opened the bedroom door, just beside some of the private group rooms, was something he did not expect.

Lying on his white sheets is Mark, wearing what seems to be Lucas' spare shirt. The clothes seemed to eat up his body, extending down to his pale bare thighs. Under the dim lighting, the shadow under his eyes seemed harsher.

He knows the waiter had went to the bar earlier to party, he had seen the tweets. It's part of the reason why he went to the bar instead of his apartment.

"I'm sorry, we shouldn't have -" Yuta says, having followed him to the second floor.

"It's fine. I don't mind." Lucas interjects, eyes not leaving the sleeping man. "Yuta-hyung, can you get me a pitcher of water? And some aspirin?"

"Right away." The older man retreats downstairs. Lucas walks slowly towards the sleeping man, making sure his suitcase doesn't make any loud noise. The mattress bends under his weight as he sits beside the sleeping man.

Dressed like this - in his clothes, and on his bed, Mark looks ethereally peaceful. Lucas brushes a stray fringe that stuck on the younger man's forehead.

"Here's the water." The voice made Lucas jump in shock. He turns around to find Yuta looking at him knowingly. "And the aspirin."

"Thanks." With that, the bartender quickly leaves the room - closing the door shut. He shakes the waiter gently to wake him up. "Mark, wake up."

"Hmmm I don't w-wanna," Mark whines, nose scrunched up. That doesn't deter Lucas though as he continues to shake the younger man awake. Sleepy eyes blinks and lands on his face. "Y-Yukhei? Is that you?"

"Yes Mark, it's me." He watches as Mark's face lights up at the confirmation. Mark sits up and wraps his arms around Lucas' chest. He felt warm against Lucas' skin, but it was not the time to bask in the sensation. "Mark, you might want to let go. I need you to drink water."

"No!" Mark shouts, hugging him tighter. "Y-You might leave again."

"I won't leave." Lucas looks at the younger man on the eye. "I promise. Now be a good boy and drink water, you'll thank me later."

Mark sits up and clumsily obeys - droplets of the liquid spilling from the corners of his mouth. It took him a few glasses until the bar owner was satisfied. "Do you need to pee?"

The waiter nods, and Lucas helps him up and brings him into the bathroom. "Don't peek!"

"I won't." Lucas laughs, standing outside of the bathroom door. After quite a while, the bathroom door opens. "Done? Let's get you back to bed."

Mark latches himself on Lucas again as the taller man practically drags him around. "You smell nice."

"Really?" The bar owner hauls the younger on the mattress and pulls a blanket over him. He pulls away, attempting to leave but Mark's hands grab his own.

"Stay." The younger man insists, his lips drawn into a small pout. "Please, Yukhei?"

He knows that he should probably leave for his own sake, but instead he lays down beside the smaller man who beams at him. He curses his weak heart for starting to do somersaults.

"Now, sleep. And don't forget to take the aspirin tomorrow when you wake up." Not that Mark would remember his words. With how cute and clingy he was being, he is probably still blackout drunk.

Mark pulls him closer and hugs him. "I missed you so so much."

Yeah, he's definitely blackout drunk.

"I missed you too."

Heavens help his soul tonight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last tweet is probably not family friendly. Be warned.

His temples throb as soon as he wakes up, memories of last night flashed in his mind like a show reel. Around him was a comfortable heavy blanket of heat. Mark flushes red remembering all the things he had said in the bar - practically confessing his less than hateful feelings for the bar owner to the said owner's staff.

He's in too deep, even hallucinating the sudden return of the Hong Konger. In his dreams, Lucas has taken care of his still drunk self, tucked him to bed and slept beside him - after Mark had begged him not to go.

The blanket around him shifts and a pair of limbs encircle him from behind. Wait a minute. Mark cracks his eyes open and twists his head to look to his back where small puffs of breath blow to his neck. What greeted him is a certain Wong Yukhei's stupidly cute sleeping face.

Wait. What?

Stupidly cute? Wow, the alcohol must be really strong. Let's correct that statement.

What greeted him is a certain Wong Yukhei's stupid sleeping face. His plump lips are a bit open and some drool are spilling down on the soft white pillow. His almond eyes are scrunched shut, his brown hair mussed up and sticking on his forehead.

 

He looked disgusting.

 

 - Disgustingly endearing.

 

Mark internally groans. He sits up - removing the really nice arms around his body. He spots a tablet of aspirin and a glass of water on the nightstand. Clumsily, he swallows the medicine with the help of the water.

It takes a few moments for the throbbing in his head to ease but when it does, clarity dawns on him. He needs to get out of there, before the bar owner wakes up. He stands up, for a moment losing his balance and leaves the room. Downstairs, the bar lights are off - the counters empty. Everyone was gone, it was probably too early for the pre-opening preparations.

Mark rushes out from the employee entrance at the back and runs back toward his apartment.

 

* * *

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/E5wWT1q3)

 

The past two nights was a revelatory experience - crossing an unacknowleged line between his relationship with Mark. And that feeling of experiencing open affection from the younger man, it felt really nice.

He wants more of that.

It was only a bit past twelve and Lucas is starving. Kun, their bar chef tends to arrive just before the bar opens.  He walks out of bar and saunters to the cafe - still lacking the presence of a certain waiter.

"Unfortunately, our prince is in another castle." The cashier, Renjun says as soon as he enters. "Well, at least he won't be here for an hour at the very least."

"That's fine. I'm here to eat." Lucas says. Renjun glances Mark's phone that was in his possession. It had a case with the waiter's name written out in a large font. Very inconspicuous. "Eat and wait for him. I need to return his phone."

"Right. So, what's your order?"

Lucas was eating his last bite of chocolate croissant when Mark entered the cafe. The younger man seemed to be in very lethargic mood, if the way he was dragging his feet around was any indication.

"Hey Markie," he calls out and watches in amusement as the waiter's eyes widen almost comically. He waggles the phone in his hand, smirking. "You left something at my bed."

Scandalous gasps of both employees and regular customers alike fills the cafe. Red crawls up from Mark's neck to the tip of his ears. "Don't say weird things like that!"

Mark stomps over to his table and tries to grab the phone out of his hands. He stands up and stretches his arms upwards, so that Mark couldn't reach it. "It's true though."

"Give it back." The shorter man says, struggling to reach his device.

"Reach for it then." Lucas laughs haughtily at the waiter's attempts. Mark just glares at him, scooting closer that their chests are almost touching and jumps as high as he can. A cute attempt but it doesn't really work well. "Calm down, I'm gonna give this back - on a condition."

"You should give it back regardless, it's my property." Mark huffs. Even when angry, the waiter looked cute in his eyes. Maybe he is in too deep. "What is your condition?'"

"Well, maybe a welcome back kiss." Lucas replies, only half joking. "You did say that you missed me so so much when you were clinging to me last night."

"I was drunk!" Mark flushes even more. The cafe goes silent but the waiter doesn't seem to notice. "You can't hold me accountable for that."

"Drunk words are sober thoughts Markie." He leans downwards, presenting his cheek and tapping it with his finger. Mark's face scrunches up. "Come on, if you want your phone. I'll even close my eyes."

He waits with his eyes closed for what seemed like forever. Soft lips hesitantly pressed on the corner of his lips and lingers for a bit. His breath hitches at the contact and warmth flooded his body. That was unexpected.

When Lucas opens his eyes, he sees Mark biting his lips nervously, staring at the floor. He looks absolutely adorable. “Can I have my phone back?"

"Sure." He takes Mark's hand with his own and clasps the phone on it. "A deal is a deal."

"Thank you." Mark withdraws his hands. "For last night I mean. You could have probably kicked me out."

"Probably." Lucas replies honestly. "But I won't do that ever. You're more than welcome to use the room any time you want."

The cafe was completely silent aside from the soft tunes of a woman singing about meeting her lover on Friday. Everyone's eyes are focused on them. Nobody made a noise, not even the boisterous staff. Mark still had pink flushing as he smiled to himself.

A chime from the cafe door breaks the trance-like state of the two. Mark coughs nervously. "You should probably go back and help with the opening preparations."

"Right." Lucas spots the waiter's nosy best friend approaching the cafe with a sharp grin. "I'll see you soon."

He smiles at Mark for one last time and leaves. Screams and squeals ring out from the glass walls of the cafe as soon as he steps out.

Lucas grins as he walks back to his bar, mood in an absolute high.

 

* * *

  

[ ](http://imgbox.com/6RH85MiL)

 

"Mark you hoe!" Donghyuck yells as soon as he enters the cafe. "You didn't tell me you slept with him."

"I didn't!" Mark refutes, his face feeling hot. "We just shared a bed. That's it. In case you have missed the memo I find him absolutely annoying."

"Last week you said you despise him with all your being." Taeyong chimes in, exiting the kitchen. Doyoung's head also peeks out, curious. "'I have it on record. Being absolutely annoying is an upgrade already."

"Some upgrade," he scoffs but he is sure that he still looks flustered if the snickering of his coworkers are any sign.

"Hyung, you're still blushing though." Chenle points out. "You like him."

"It's the heat." Mark reasons out. An absolute lie, their air conditioning unit was keeping the cafe chilly."

Jaemin guffaws. "Oh, so you admit to finding him hot?"

"I don't!" He exclaims, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Really? Then what is your opinion on this?" Renjun flips his phone and shows a picture of the taller man. "Apparently he's pretty popular with the locals."

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/Te8jmnkF)

 

Hot. That's his opinion on it.

Mark's eyes are glued to the screen for what seemed to be a very suspicious amount of time. He feels his jaw dropping slightly at the sight. Damn those arms and that face.

"Mark, you're practically drooling." Doyoung laughs. Mark adjusts his facial expression and averts his eyes. "Just admit it. Nobody is going to judge you anyway."

"Fine. He's hot." The waiter admits. "But that doesn't mean I like him."

"Sure." Donghyuck snorts. Mark glares at him. "Now spill on what happened last night."

Mark mentally groans. This was going to be a long day.

 

* * *

 

It becomes a habit - riling Mark up with not-so-subtle flirting attempts, just to see if the waiter would reciprocate like the first time. So far it hasn't happened again.

"Hey shortie," Lucas calls out. The younger stops his task of cleaning the street in front of the cafe. The sun is up high. Beads of sweat rolls down the waiter's temples.

"Ugh. I have a perfectly normal height, thank you very much." Mark seemingly sounds annoyed by his presence but the small smile forming on the corner of his lips says otherwise. "What is it today? What cursed reason do you have to visit today?"

"Chill, I came to have a coffee. This is a cafe, right?" He replies. "Is the heat getting into your head already?"

"You have been getting coffee here every day for the past few days." The waiter narrows his eyes at him. "You haven't done that before. You usually go for the overpriced Starbucks a few blocks away."

"Well, would you believe it's because I learned to appreciate the beautiful view here?" Lucas watches as Mark flushed red again, lips parting to a small o. It is such a pretty sight that Lucas just wants to lift Mark up and pepper kisses all over his face. He restrains himself, "I mean, I can see my bar from inside. Nothing much prettier than that."

Mark's expression falls into a disbelieving frown. "Your building exterior is ugly though. It's like a sad grey dotted with neon lights."

"How dare you, that's my baby." He gasps in fake offense. Mark hides a snicker. "Stop laughing. My baby is still prettier than you."

"We'll see about that." Mark looks up at him with a challenging grin. He opens the glass door and motions for Lucas to step inside. "I'll be serving you shortly. I just have to go clean myself up."

Lucas watches as the waiter talks briefly to the cashier before heading to the staff room. He seats himself in his usual place and waits for the younger man to come back.

Mark emerges with his hair styled neatly and a uniform seemingly a bit smaller than before. The white button up now hugs his shoulders and arms - his black slacks clinging more on the swell of his ass. He walks with confidence and stops in front of a black-haired man sitting right in front of Lucas' table.

"Hi, Yoonho right?" He asks the customer who looks at the waiter with surprised eyes. Mark smiles at him and brushes his fingers briefly on the man's hands that was resting on a tumbler. "Do you want a refill?"

The man, Yoonho, looks like heaven blessed him and nods eagerly. "Yes, please."

Lucas scoffs at the scene.

Mark refills the tumbler with black coffee. He beams at the still stunned man. "Do you want brownies? On the house."

"Uh, s-sure." Yoonho stutters back. Mark turns around and saunters back to the counter. He argues with Donghyuck for a bit before returning victoriously with a plate of brownies.

"Here you go. I hope you have a nice day Yoonho." Mark's hand rub briefly on the customer's forearms. Red flashed on Lucas's brain. He walks down towards Lucas' table, not minding Yoonho's gaze which was still glued at him. Mark clicks his tongue at Lucas' empty table. "You didn't order anything up front?"

"You did say you will serve me." Lucas replies. Mark just shrugs and brings out a notepad and a pen. He ignores it though and asks instead, "I didn't know you guys allow refills."

"Only for people who brings their own tumblers." Mark taps his pen on the pad of paper. "What's your order?"

Lucas ignores the question. "You guys give free brownies now?"

"I'm paying for it later." Mark rolls his eyes. "What's your order dumbass."

"Why?" He frowns.

"Why what?" Mark frowns back.

"Why are you giving him free brownies?" Lucas asks. "You're a broke college student."

"He's a loyal customer and he's hot. Like really hot." Mark answers snippily. "Now can we move on from that? What's your order, Yukhei?"

Lucas narrows his eyes at Mark. The waiter looks a bit too happy and smug for someone supposed to be annoyed. The runt was acting earlier to affect Lucas. An idea sparks up in his brain. "You."

"What?" The waiter asks, puzzled.

"My order." Lucas leans back and unbuttons the top button of his shirt. "I want you. Can I order you?"

"That's so bad. Ugh." Mark groans at the joke yet flushing red - air of confidence broken. "I'm getting you your usual."

He rolls his sleeves a bit and smirks at the waiter. "Does that come with complementary free brownies?"

Mark's eyes flits distractedly - not so subtly scanning him, tracing over the hard lines of his collar bones and the outline of his arms. "Y-yes?"

"Thanks." Lucas replies, feeling entirely too smug. When Mark retreats back to the counter he tears away his gaze from the waiter's behind for a bit to glare at the customer who was doing the same.

He glances back at the waiter who was talking to the cashier. Mark still looks red and adorable - and it's because of him.

Take that Yoonho - or whatever his name is.

 

* * *

 

"Well that plan backfired magnificently." Donghyuck snarks during closing time. The door chimed, probably signifying their last customer leaving. Lucas has left their cafe right before the bar had to open. All afternoon he was staring Mark and being openly flirty and at just before sundown, touchy. "He was like a shark out for your ass."

"Shut up. Let's not talk about it." Mark's groans - muffled by the table. He has his face lying flat on the cold surface, all he could really see is the wood grain. "I felt like dying the whole time."

"There's literally nothing else to talk about since your damn love life has taken the spot light." His best friend replies and Mark can just see his eye roll even with his eyes obstructed. "So, come on rant about him or whatever. We're the only ones here."

Mark lets out another groan. "My brain just kind of short-circuited earlier. He's just so hot - and cute at the same time. His eyes are like so intense and his smile is so nice and warm. Have you seen his body? Fuck. He's so HUGE everywhere. I'm just -"

He screeches at the wood.

"I thought you find him absolutely annoying? That doesn't sound like you find him annoying." Donghyuck clowns him.

"Fine. I like him." Mark admits. "I like Wong Yukhei so much, I don't even know how to function properly around him. Happy?"

"You like me?" A deep familiar voice asks - amused. Mark looks up and sees Lucas grinning widely. "That's embarrassing."

Mark sputters in embarrassment and stands up from his seat. His whole body burns and his hands are wet with cold sweat. Of all the timing the bar owner to hear him rant. "What are you doing here? Why are you even here if you're just gonna mock me about it?"

"Well I was supposed to ask if I can walk you home." Lucas steps closer to the shorter man. Mark's heart beats faster with each step. The tall man closes the distance and takes Mark's lips with his own.

It was a simple innocent peck but Mark can feel his entire body warming up with joy and elation.

"I like you too crackhead." Lucas says, his eyes twinkling. His smile taking away all of Mark's breath.

"Oh." Mark managed to respond before Lucas' lips were back on his again. This time he leans upwards and wraps his arms on Lucas' shoulder - not minding shutter sound coming from his best friend's camera.

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/F3kp3uUt)

 

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/fZSRMqYI)

 

* * *

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/BjeHtnRk)

 

 

[ ](http://imgbox.com/aUimEA5R)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Yoonho. Yes, Johnny and Yuta wins the bet - no prize though, so Yuta is still broke.

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to scream at me on twitter @jikart19


End file.
